This morning we awoke with the National Geographic Sea Lion positioned at the mouth of the Palouse River where it empties into the Snake River. After an early breakfast, we began our morning activities along and above the Palouse River. We all boarded our expedition landing crafts; half departed up the Palouse River to view the towering basalt cliffs and the wildlife. We saw great blue herons, snowy egrets, coots, the nests of bank swallows, and mule deer. A jackrabbit bounded away from the shore and a golden eagle and a red tailed hawk sailed overhead.
The other group took the inflatable boats to the landing beach and boarded a motor coach that took us from river level up to the bluffs above the river. Along the way we learned about the formation of the huge layers of basalt and how they were scoured clean by the massive floods at the end of the last ice age. We arrived at Palouse Falls State Park, and observed the 180-foot tall main Palouse Falls and the flow of the river down toward where the ship was anchored. We observed the many layers of basalt and learned how the canyon was scoured out by the Bretz floods. Some of us hiked to the bluff overlooking the head of the Falls and along the river above the main falls to the smaller falls and series of rapids.
Later in the morning, we took in the activity that we had not done earlier, and had the chance to take a quiet kayak journey up the river.
Back on the ship, we headed down the Snake River and enjoyed a luncheon on the aft deck. We made rapid progress down the river through the locks at the Lower Monumental and Ice Harbor Dams before entering the mighty Columbia River.
During the afternoon, we learned about the salmon inhabiting the Columbia River Basin and how they have survived the commercial harvesting and creation of the dams.
